People are encouraged to wear life jackets when they are engaged in water sports such a water-skiing, boating, or jet-skiing. However, the same individuals are usually interested in an even suntan. When someone wears a traditional life jacket the area under the life jacket receives no tan and the other areas are very darkly tanned leaving embarrassing lines between the two regions.
Clothing, especially bathing suits, is now available that allows the passage of ultraviolet radiation to facilitate a full body suntan. However, no one has taught a practical lifevest that will transmit ultraviolet rays to give an even tan.
There is another issuexe2x80x94aesthetics. An individual may not wish to cover up their body or swimsuit with a light-blocking life vest. Thus, there is a need for a safe and practical life vest that would allow the passage of visible light.
Snow skiers and mountain climbers could also benefit from light selective articles. Garments that would pass heat-carrying ultra-violet radiation but block the loss of the body""s infrared radiation would be very useful. Alternatively, garments that would pass visible light would be attractive for the style conscious resort skier that wished to show off their under-jacket garments.
In spite of the numerous possible uses for light selective sport garments there have been none taught beyond the famous light transmitting swimsuit invention of Reidel (U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,798). Reidel""s fabric is actually not light transparent but based on the clever trick of a very loose fabric (hexagonal weave) so that only ⅓ of the skin is covered. Camouflage patterns on the suit then provide privacy by preventing the discernment of small physical features. Bortnick (U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,493) taught another swimsuit approach with a conventional rectangular weave but with coated fibers.
Other mentions of light passage in garments have been directed essentially to novelties. Danzy (U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,476) teaches a transparent patch in part of a garment to better display tattoos. Jones (U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,688) teaches a transparent pouch sewn onto a T-shirt to hold, for example, a liquid appearing like beer. Wheeler (U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,109) teaches what is essentially sunglasses attached to a cap.
The basic object of this invention is the use of light selective materials and fabrics to increase the utility of a garment or sports article. The invention is the novel idea that light selective materials and fabrics can radically improve the usefulness, pleasure, and appeal obtained from sportswear and other garments.
To illustrate the broad applications of this concept the following Table I may be useful by depicting a few examples:
For a Tan-Thru life vest one would prefer to transmit UV-A for the skin tanning properties but to limit the UV-B. The visible light is blocked for reasons of modesty and consumer choice. For the infrared radiation, we have two choices which can actually correspond to two different products. For colder and cloudy weather we would want to hold the infrared radiation within the body so we would block it to keep the wearer as warm as possible. This also reduces cancer risk as infrared can be carcinogenic. For sunny but chilly weather, when there is more infrared from the sun, we may wish to transmit this infrared heat to warm the user short-term. All of the life vests are either permanently or temporarily filled with a gas (including air or a foam material) to provide flotation.
For the Fast-Tan(trademark) life vest, the UV-B would also be passed as the UV-B is a strong promoter of melanization.
For the See-Thru(trademark) life vest, the visible light is passed but both of the UV wavelengths are blocked. The infrared treatment is optional as discussed above. For the See and Tan-Thru(trademark) life vest both visible and UV-A light are transmitted but the UV-B is blocked.
The Greenhouse(trademark) snow-ski vest (alternatively a coat with full length sleeves) would transmit UV-A as it provides high energy heating at high altitudes. The warm body then attempts to retransmit infrared (being of lower temperature than the sun and hence giving off lower frequency photons) which is blocked. Visible light is blocked to allow for the more modest consumer. The UV-B passage is optional. Blocking this reduces ultraviolet damage to light sensitive clothing beneath the vest. Gas filling is optional as it presents more insulation but also more bulk. Note that a single layer of UV-A passing material, that blocks IR, can warm the user without any gas filling being required.
The Show-Me(trademark) ski vest or jacket passes visible light to allow the wearer to reveal clothing or physique beneath. The infrared is blocked to retain heat. The UV-A passage is optional depending on the amount of warming desired. No gas filler is indicated for this device.
The Air-Bag(trademark) snow ski pants are gas filled. They offer light weight warmth and cushioning for falls. They protect the hips from falls as air is a very good shock absorber. They would pass visible light to prevent apparent bulk. Other light wavelength passage choices are optional.
It should be clear from the above samples that this invention presents a major new avenue in sport garments. The chart gives seven samples. However, if one were to amplify on this by considering more possible choices, the number of possibilities are impressive. For example, with the five choices of light wavelength transmission and gas filling there are 32=2*2*2*2*2 combinations. There are many choices for the garment or sport article to apply this invention to. Just counting the following: life vest, snow ski vest, snow ski jacket, snow ski pants, hat, gloves, umbrella, and tent gives 10 choices. Multiplying the 10 choices by the 32 combinations gives us 320 illustrations of this invention. The reader will appreciate that it is not necessary to list every one of these applications.
Beyond that flexibility, there are choices and materials that would divide the various light frequencies into different bands. For example, one might pass the lower frequency part of UV-B ( 310-320 nm wavelength) while blocking the more dangerous UV-B which has the 290-310 nm wavelengths. This would allow stimulation of tanning without the higher cancer risk of the full UV-B band.